Menashe Amir

Menashe Amir

Menashe Amir (Hebrew: מנשה אמיר‎, b. 1940) is a long time Persian language broadcaster on the Israel Radio International, a channel of Kol Yisrael (lit. "Voice of Israel"). He is a former head of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's Persian language division. He is also a leading Iranian expert in Israel and a chief editor of the Foreign Ministry's Persian web-site.

Biography

Menashe Amir was born and grew up in Iran, and made aliyah (immigrated) to Israel in 1959.^[1] He has been working as a journalist and a broadcaster for over 50 years, and broadcasting to Iran for over 25 years.^[2] Amir became popular in Israel during his coverage of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. Currently retired from his post in the Israel Broadcasting Authority, he continues to host his radio program.

Radio program at Kol Yisrael

Amir hosts a daily 1.5 hour radio program in Persian,^[3] which is broadcast every evening to Iran on a shortwave.^[4] The program includes a call-in portion, with Iranian listeners calling a special number in Germany.^[5] While no hard data is available, the show is very popular in Iran and some expert estimate that up to 5 million Iranians listen to it.^[6] Beside political discussions, the program also broadcasts the music banned in Iran. Iranian newspapers often denounce the radio as the "Zionist regime radio", and rebuke the radio program assertions.^[7]

In the aftermath of the 2009 Iranian presidential election, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the "Zionist radio the bad British radio" for misleading the public.^[8] This was widely interpreted as a reference to Menashe Amir's program on Kol Yisrael and a reference to BBC Persian.^[9]

References

1. ^ THE JERUSALEM POST's Interview with Menashe Amir, September 17, 2006.
2. ^ IRAN’S FOREIGN POLICY AND DRIVE TOWARD NUCLEAR WEAPONS, US State Department Panel Discussion with Menashe Amir and his mini-biography, May 22, 2008.
3. ^ Persian-Israeli radio makes waves, Ynet.
4. ^ Israel's defence establishment is looking east with concern, BBC, 11 August 2004.
5. ^ Listening to Iran, CBC, August 27, 2008.
6. ^ After Rebuke, Bush Officials Voice Support For Israel Plan Israeli Sends Signal to Iran Over Airwaves — In Persian, The Forward, December 26, 2003.
7. ^ Israel Radio Often Finds Best Friends Are Iranian, The New York Times, February 20, 1998.
8. ^ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backs Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in address at Friday prayers, Daily Telegraph, 19 Jun 2009.
9. ^ Israeli Radio Show Captivates Iranians, Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2009.

External links

• Interviews with Menashe Amir, on the IsraCast website

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